Canada, rarely studied in U.S. schools, is only known to many of us as a refuge for our youth during the Vietnam era and the popular song, “Blame Canada,” from South Park. However, largely forgotten is the fact that the history of Canada begins with the French presence on this continent. This presentation will emphasize that aspect of the country, for, while the rest of Canada is oriented toward the British Commonwealth, Québec remains largely French in temperament. We will also look at one facet of Québec history that has perplexed Americans, the desire of many Québécois to separate from the rest of the country.

An exhibition of original prints from the Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College and Inuit soapstone carvings from the collection of Dr. and Mrs. Melvyn Moser of MSSU. The Inuit artists who created the work document a world of nomadic life and seasonal hunting, altered now by the modern world. Many of the artists represented are of the last generation who lived a nomadic life before stepping into the modern world. What was once known only through oral tradition is set down visually in the unique mediums of soapstone carving and prints — many of which were make from soapstone matrixes. The imagery reflects life on the land: daily existence, hunting practices, mythical beings related to their spiritual beliefs, and survival itself.

Multi-volume fiction with recurring characters and relating to a recurring locale is by no means uniquely Canadian. Think of American writers such as Mark Twain and William Faulkner, or world authors such as Marcel Proust, or Canadians such as Lucy Maud Montgomery. Robertson Davies wrote three trilogies; three of Margaret Laurence’s novels and a collection of her short stories are known collectively as “The Manawaka Novels.” The presentation will focus on Davies (1913-1995) and Laurence (1926-1987), two of Canada’s best-known authors.

Question: What does the most famous speech in Canadian history, the largest quick service restaurant chain in Canada, the only event resembling a race riot in Canada during the second half of the 20th century, and the song sent to a soldier in Afghanistan on Canada Day to make him know he was not forgotten by those at home have in common?

Answer: Ice Hockey.

Although the role of ice hockey in Canadian society and culture is usually dismissed by social scientists as just a stereotype, and a superficial stereotype at that, Craig Palmer suggests that viewing Canada through the lens of ice hockey provides insights into many important (and trivial) aspects of Canadian culture and society.

The Past and Present Behavior of Mummers:What the Reinvention of a Traditional Ritual in Newfoundland Tells Us about Worldwide Changes in Human Social Relationships11:00 a.m., Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009Corley Auditorium in Webster HallAdmission: freeSpeaker: Dr. Craig T. Palmer

Folklorists tell us that prior to the 1960s the cold nights around the start of the new year would find groups of disguised figures walking the streets of the small fishing communities along the coast of Newfoundland. These disguised figures, often carrying sticks and sometimes frightening fur-covered “hobby horses” complete with clopping jaws lined with “teeth” of nails, would enter a house and engage in what would appear to an outside observer as aggressive and threatening behavior. An outside observer, however, would have realized that they had misinterpreted the behavior involved in this traditional ritual known as “mummering” when the residents of the house responded, not with fear, but with jovial laughter as they calmly attempted to determine the identity of the masked figures. A mid-winter visitor to Newfoundland today might see similarly disguised people, but they would be as likely to see them in a public establishment as an individual’s private home. Further, the jovial atmosphere of the event would remain, but behavior appearing to threaten violence would be diminished to only the slightest hints of mischief or absent altogether. Although much of this change can be traced to a single popular song that reinvented the tradition of mummering in 1983, Craig Palmer suggests that the change in the basic structure of the ritual reflects a more fundamental change in the social environment in which the ritual takes place. The foremost aspect of this change is a declining familiarity and trust concerning the people who might be in one’s social environment. Far from being a unique event, the changing social environment of Newfoundland is a microcosm of a change taking place throughout the world.

The past 30 years have seen thousands of Newfoundlanders migrate to Alberta to work in the oil industry. This continuing pattern of migration provides an opportunity to explore both the nature of the Newfoundland identity and the reasons for why it is given such emphasis among Newfoundlanders living in Alberta. It is suggested that the frequent displays of Newfoundland identity through such mediums as T-shirts, hats, tattoos, flags, bumper stickers and music are instrumental in the creation of mutually beneficial social networks. These social networks have great practical significance in overcoming the many difficulties associated with transportation, housing, employment and personal safety encountered during the migration. It is suggested that the signaling of Newfoundland identity is particularly efficient at creating such supportive social networks because the isolation and harsh climate of many Newfoundland communities has led to Newfoundland culture placing great emphasis on providing aid to one’s neighbor.

Eastern Canada, like many parts of the world, has seen the dramatic overexploitation of natural resources. The local ecological knowledge of the people directly dependent on a resource is obviously a valuable tool to be used in avoiding similar future ecological disasters. However, local ecological knowledge is far more complex than what people say about the environment and the causes of environmental problems. This is because all talk about the environment not only takes place within a specific social environment; it is also aimed at influencing the behavior of people in that social environment. Thus talk about the causes of environmental problems must be interpreted within the social context of that talk. Craig Palmer presents a number of examples of the need for such interpretations from his fieldwork in Newfoundland and Labrador over the past 20 years that included extensive participant observation in the commercial fisheries for cod, lobster, shrimp and other species.

“Be careful that you do not write or paint anything that is not your own, that you don't know in your own soul.” These words of noted painter and author Emily Carr reveal one of the guiding principles of her life; a life spent in pursuit of the creative expression of the world around her. As a young woman, she studied painting in San Francisco, London, and Paris. In Europe, she was influenced by Les Fauves (the Wild Beasts) and her paintings, aggressively drawn and boldly colored, were out of step with contemporary taste. Consequently, her work languished unknown for years. She turned her attention to writing and found another medium for her prodigious creativity. Dr. James Lile will present some of Emily Carr’s paintings and selections from her writings to set her in the context of Canadian art and to demonstrate how her work can still speak to us today.

In the year 2000, a small group of scholars, civic and political leaders, and artists from a dozen nations met to design a program that might help raise consciousness around the realities and possibilities of interdependence. According to the group, both liberty and security require cooperation among peoples and nations and can no longer be secured by sovereign nations working unilaterally. In keeping with the spirit of Interdependence Day, now celebrated worldwide on Sept. 12, several MSSU faculty will share insights into what Canada has in common with the United States and how it is also uniquely different.

Moderator: Dr. Dorothy Bay, professor of biology

9:05 a.m.: “Minding P’s and Q’s - U.S. and Canadian Ideas About Government,” by Dr. Ann Wyman (associate professor of political science)

There are huge similarities between the U.S. and Canadian ideas about government - several of our own founding fathers even expected Canada to jump right in and join the USA. There are also differences between the two governments, and two are especially significant and worth talking about: Canada’s use of a Parliament and its connection to the British Queen.

As former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau once put it, Canada is something like a mouse sleeping next to an elephant. Yet Canada is the largest single country trading partner of the United States. Areas such as cross border trade, effects of North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), international trade participation, population, and taxes will be explored.

America’s No. 1 trading partner is no more than one tenth its size in population characteristics. Contemporary population data reveals some unusual facts about America’s “next door” neighbor and NAFA partner. The individuality of each nation gains in appreciation.

10:25 a.m.: “Hot It’s Not But It Rocks a Lot” (Dr. John Knapp, professor of geophysics)

Have you ever noticed the TV weatherman doesn’t put Canada on the weather map? Canada’s weather is dominated by cold Arctic area, and only the southernmost swath has similar weather to the northernmost United States - warm humid summers, blizzards in the winter, and beautifully clear skies with sub-zero temperatures. Central Canada comprises the hard core of the North American continent, but the Canadian Rockies and the Coastal mountain ranges, which extend southward into the United States, are massive zones of active mountain building and volcanic activity; and they are all rocked by earthquakes. Canada has beautiful scenery, but don’t forget, it’s north of Montana!

11:05 a.m.: “The Megafauna of the United States and Canada, Past and Present” (Dr. Kip Heth, assistant professor of biology)

North America once had a rich Pleistocene fauna of large mammals, some indigenous, while others migrated from South America or Siberia. We still puzzle why this fauna mostly disappeared from North America while it survived in Africa, Europe, and Asia.

Which species of trees and flowers grow in Canada and not in the United States? Which ones can grow in both countries? What difference does this make to us and to other wildlife?

11:35 a.m.: “Bringing Home the Bacon: Michael Moore’s Take on Americans’ Take on Canada” (Dr. William Kumbier, professor of English)

The presentation will provide a brief overview of Michael Moore’s film Canadian Bacon (1995), a funny, incisive satire of American foreign policy and specifically of how Americans view Canada and Canadians. In the course of the film, Moore pokes fun at numerous American stereotypes of its neighbor to the north while also showing something of the real differences between the two countries. The presentation will suggest a number of things to watch for when the film is shown in the Residence Hall Courtyard on the evening of Sept. 14. “Surrender pronto, or…we’ll level Toronto!”

This presentation examines the career of the pioneering Canadian playwright and director Herman Voaden, whose drama Emily Carr receives its American premiere at Missouri Southern State University. Inspired by painters such as Emily Carr and the Group of Seven, Voaden sought to dramatize the Canadian landscape on stage and to create a Canadian culture that would reflect the vision and beauty of a new people in a new land. He was also instrumental in the Canada-wide organizing and lobbying by artists to secure government support for arts and culture so that Canada would not be overwhelmed by American free-market cultural industries.

This visual presentation focuses on Canadian theatre and drama in the new millennium as Canada becomes an increasingly multicultural society that accepts and values diversity. Federal, provincial and civic government support for the arts has enabled companies and individual artists to become less dependent on box-office receipts and to take greater risks in programming and individual and collective self-expression. The presentation will provide an overview of how theatre is presented to Canadian audiences from super-size companies such as the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, “regional” and “alternate” theatre companies to the new smaller and experimental theatres. The work of a few international superstars such as the Québec director Robert Lepage and the opera composer R. Murray Schafer will be mentioned. But the focus is on the new voices emerging from feminist, First Nations, Afro-Canadian, gay and lesbian, Asian and other multi-cultural and intercultural theatre groups and playwrights.

Of Myth and Mounties: A History of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police9:00 a.m., Monday, Sept. 21, 2009Corley Auditorium in Webster HallAdmission: freeSpeaker: A.F. "Al" O'Donnell

The image of the red-coated Mountie in broad-brimmed Stetson hat is instinctively associated with Canada around the world. But there is more to the Mounties than just a romantic image. The stage was set in 1873 for a role that would intimately connect the Mounted Police and its members with the development of Canada as a great nation. From the beginning of its long history, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have served Canada and its people by establishing law and order in the frontier reaches of this vast nation. As the country grew in population and diversity, and its communities became more established, the Mounted Police adapted, ensuring the peace and security for its citizens.

The RCMP is unique in the world since it is a national, federal, provincial and municipal policing body. The Mounties provide a total federal policing service to all Canadians and policing services under contract to the three territories, eight provinces (except Ontario and Québec), more than 190 municipalities, 184 Aboriginal communities and three international airports. As a federal police force, the RCMP’s scope of operations includes organized crime, terrorism and specific crimes related to the illicit drug trade; economic crimes; and offences that threaten the integrity of Canada’s national borders. The Force also protects VIPs, including the Prime Minister and foreign dignitaries, and provides the Government of Canada with a full range of physical and computer-based security services.

Serving Canada’s 634 Aboriginal communities is one of the RCMP’s strategic priorities. Since the earliest days of the Northwest Mounted Police in the 1870s, the RCMP has developed a unique and important relationship with Aboriginal peoples living in Canada. Today, the RCMP works closely with Aboriginal communities (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) to deliver a policing service that is culturally competent.

The common metaphor for American political culture is a melting pot. In Canada, the prevailing image is of a mosaic. The study of political culture is a bit like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. There are lots of intricately cut tiny pieces in odd shapes and configurations. These itsy-bitsy morsels mean little when they’re spread out haphazardly on a table. However, when the pieces are locked together, a rather intriguing picture emerges. Canada’s political culture is founded on several interlocking principles: regionalism, dualism, and continentalism. The purpose of this presentation is to explore these puzzle pieces and how they fit together to form a brilliant and complex picture of Canadian political culture.

The story of provincial-federal relations in Canada is one of conflict, cooperation, challenge, and passion. There exist at least three perspectives on Canadian federalism: the “two founding nations” theory, the “eleven equal governments” approach, and the “national versus subnational powers and responsibilities” view. This presentation explores these three approaches, examines the historical evolution of Canadian federalism, and compares the structures and meanings of Canada’s provincial-federal relations with state-national relations in the United States. The purpose of this analysis is to spark questions about the future of Canada’s 10 provinces, three territories, and federal government in Ottawa and the relationship that binds them.

Turn-of-the-Century Canadian Literature for the Young and Dutiful:Each Time Has to be the First Time When Re-experiencing Anne of Green Gables10:00 a.m., Monday, Oct. 12, 2009Corley Auditorium in Webster HallAdmission: freeSpeaker: Jean Stringam

Maybe Lucy Maude Montgomery didn’t go far enough to satisfy 21st century feminists, but where she has taken us for the last 101 years has inspired more than theme parks around the world. It has been the genesis of private devotion for generations of young women who still love that red-haired girl.

Turn-of-the-Century Canadian Literature for the Young and Adventurous:Fierce Animals, Red Indians, & Terrible Storms: Courage, Pluck, & Derring-do and None of It Seen from an Arm-Chair12:00 p.m., Monday, Oct. 12, 2009Corley Auditorium in Webster HallAdmission: freeSpeaker: Jean Stringam

How do you write about what you know for audiences who think they know, but don’t? The population of Canada was too small to support its talent in the late 19th century, so writers had no choice but to export their products to journals in England and the United States. Then, in a curious turn, Canadians imported their own export.

Perhaps no performer so decisively polarized audiences as did Glenn Gould, the Canadian pianist who stunned both his fans and his critics by retiring from the concert stage at the height of his career. Gould, who had revolutionized the way people listened to the keyboard music of J.S. Bach with a now legendary recording of the Goldberg Variations, gave up performing to devote himself to recording and to exploring the “counterpoint” or play of diverse voices through a range of media, including radio, film and writing. Brilliant, quirky, probing, outrageous and always inventive, Gould, despite his premature death in 1982, continues to challenge the ways we hear music and each other. This presentation will provide a concise overview of Gould’s life and art and also introduce the two feature films, Glenn Gould: Hereafter and 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould, that will be shown later in the day.

Canada is the U.S.’s largest trading partner and supplier of energy. The countries share the longest secure border in the world. Approximately 400,000 businesspeople, tourists, truckers and regular commuters travel between Canada and the U.S. every day. Canadian Consul General Georges Rioux will offer insight into this unique international relationship and our collective strength and leadership.

This talk introduces you to Canada’s history, geography, politics and government, economy, social policy and health care system, international relations, and how the persistence of the “French fact” impacts Canadian society.

Think of Canada as a “mouse” living next to an elephant. How does a “middle” power get along with a “super” power? Topics considered are the joint stewardship of the Great Lakes, military cooperation, economic dependence on the U.S., security at the huge Canada-U.S. border, global climate change, and growing international competition in the Arctic.

Canada is the United States’ most important bilateral trading partner and ally. Canadian Consul General Georges Rioux will speak about the political and economic ties between the two countries at a time of new leadership and global economic slowdown.

More trade takes place between Canada and the United States than any two countries on the planet. Canada is the biggest foreign supplier of oil, petroleum products and natural gas to the U.S. Dr. Kasoff focuses on forces leading up to the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement of 1989, which became the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994 when Mexico joined. This talk describes key trade and investment features and assesses how NAFTA has performed.

Canada is the United States’ active and staunch ally in Afghanistan. Canada is one of the leading members of the 37-nation NATO-led International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan, and more than 25,000 Canadian personnel have deployed to Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf since October 2001. Canadian Consul General Georges Rioux will discuss the three-pronged strategy being taken in Afghanistan to help defend and rebuild this troubled region.

With the formation of Nunavut in 1999, an Indigenous-dominated territory comprising nearly one-fifth of the landmass of Canada, the Inuit of Canada’s high arctic began to take control over their land and natural resources. Nunavut Territory was a product of modern treaty negotiations between Inuit and Canada’s federal government to resolve Indigenous land ownership throughout the vast territory. With the birth of the new territory, Inuit began to revise how natural resources, such as wildlife, are managed. This presentation will explore how Inuit concepts are being incorporated into the wildlife management regime of Nunavut Territory in collaboration with Canada’s federal government.

The First Nations, or aboriginal peoples, of present-day Canada have long-standing relationships with the lands they inhabit. They also have developed long-standing relationships over more than 400 years with European settlers and their descendents. These relationships, or partnerships, are regulated by treaties signed between the Canadian government and representatives of the First Nations. These treaty-partnerships mediate between First Nations and provincial and federal governments. This presentation will briefly explore some of the history of treaty-making in Canada along with a discussion of modern treaty negotiations in British Columbia and the northern territories.

From Champlain to the Cirque du Soleil - 400 years of French in North America9:30 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009Corley Auditorium in Webster HallAdmission: freeSpeaker: Marc T. Boucher

The French Canadians first arrived in North America over 400 years ago. Although relatively few in number, they have had a major influence on the development of North America. They have been exploring, mapping and settling the continent since the colony was first established in Québec City in 1608, and have influenced local development and customs, many of which remain with us to this day. This presentation will attempt to put into perspective the lasting contribution of the French Canadians to the establishment of a North American mentality, as well as their role in the growth of the continent, including the United States.

Québec has attempted to maintain its language, culture and heritage while continuing to play a relevant role within North America. In an age of globalization, the Québecois have taken up the challenge to fully endorse integration on all levels — but to avoid assimilation. This commitment transcends party lines, but the emotional debate as to how this can best be achieved has dominated Quebec and Canadian politics since the 1960s. This presentation will try to explain the issues, and to provide a meaningful context for an American population.

Emily Carr’s Klee Wyck is a Canadian classic that achieved the country’s most prestigious book award. But how many people know that its text was substantially altered and expurgated only a few years after its publication? Why and for what purpose? Archivist and historian Kathryn Bridge will discuss this pivotal book and reveal some of the reasons for these actions and who was responsible.

Today, Carr’s art works set Canadian auction records, selling for more than $2 million. Carr’s story and her struggles to attain recognition for her art make a compelling story, and is a direct contrast to the instant success she had later in life as an author. Carr was first known as an artist. Her love of the West Coast landscapes, and her interest in the First Nations peoples (the subjects of Klee Wyck), are dominant themes in her oil paintings. This illustrated lecture will pair the majesty of Carr’s paintings with quotes from her writings.

Canada is justly proud of Emily Carr, whose twin legacies and her own life story continue to inspire both within the country and internationally. What would Carr think of her enduring popularity as an author and an artist? How would she react to being portrayed as a middle-aged eccentric whose menagerie of dogs, rats, cats and a monkey threatened to overwhelm her? What constitutes genius? What is the secret of Carr’s wide appeal, and does it rely on being typecast?